You will be based at the Center for the Study of Social Sciences of Religion (CéSor, UMR 8216) and will have a workspace at the Campus Condorcet in Aubervilliers. You will be required to travel regularly to the Maghreb and Mashreq.
You will be affiliated with the EHESS Doctoral School ED 286, “Social Sciences.” You will work closely with Anouk Cohen (CNRS anthropologist and Director of the Jacques Berque Center in Rabat) and Emir Mahieddin (CNRS anthropologist and member of CéSor, Paris), and will conduct your doctoral research under the supervision of two members of the LIV-REL project, including Anouk Cohen.
The LIV-REL project team consists of 16 researchers working in anthropology, ethnomusicology, sociology, and history.
Application Procedure
The application must include the following documents, all submitted in PDF format:
- A single document containing:
- A research proposal (maximum 3 pages) focusing on religious publishing in the Maghreb, the Middle East, and/or the Persian Gulf, and potentially on diasporic communities in Europe originating from these countries. Research proposals involving multi-sited fieldwork will be particularly encouraged.
- A motivation letter (maximum 2 pages).
- The Master's thesis (or equivalent).
- A detailed academic CV, including any publications (maximum 2 pages).
Applications must be submitted exclusively through the CNRS Employment Portal by the evening of October 20, 2026.
Recruitment Timeline
- Late October / first half of November 2026: Interviews with shortlisted candidates (either in person or by videoconference).
- Late November 2026: Notification of the result to the successful candidate.
- December 2026: Administrative recruitment procedures with the CNRS Human Resources Department.
- January 1, 2027: Official start date and commencement of the doctoral contract.
For any questions regarding the scientific aspects of the position, please contact the project coordinators directly:
Anouk Cohen — anouk.cohen@cjb.ma
Emir Mahieddin — emir.mahieddin@ehess.fr
The PhD thesis will be situated within the framework of the LIV-REL project, which aims to investigate the dynamics and stakes of the religious book market in the Maghreb and Mashreq from a connected perspective. LIV-REL places the publishing, production, and circulation of religious books in the contemporary Maghreb and Mashreq (21st century) at the heart of its analysis. Particular attention is paid to the Qur'an, the Bible, and the Torah, as well as to books designed to accompany their reading, those used in associated liturgical practices (hymn books, prayer books), and works intended for religious instruction and proselytization. The project also examines public controversies that reveal the sensitivities and affects associated with the social treatment of religious books.
LIV-REL seeks to shift the focus of the social sciences of religion away from places of worship and towards the publishing houses, printing presses, and bookstores that provide religious elites and their followers with the material they use to believe, think, and practice. It aims to bring to light the editorial backstage of religious life in order to better understand how the forms of knowledge that animate it are produced and disseminated, while also exploring the public controversies generated by religious books and the legal and moral issues surrounding them.
In short, the project proposes an anthropology of religious books through the lens of their different forms of value—economic, moral, political, and semantic. It thus examines the social and (geo)political implications of material transformations in religious books in a context marked by the liberalization of religious goods and the development of digital technologies, which are diversifying the ways in which religious doctrines, liturgies, and moral disciplines are shaped.
The Maghreb–Mashreq region is approached here as a space connected to its contiguous European, African, and Asian regions through the networks of production and distribution that these books generate and reconfigure. Particular attention is paid to the “literary capitals” of the Maghreb and Mashreq—Casablanca, Tunis, Cairo, Beirut, and Jerusalem—where the publication of religious books has increased considerably in recent years as a result of the rapid transformation of practices surrounding the production and transmission of the written word (increased literacy, the development of the internet, digitization, rising standards of living and levels of education among women, etc.).
Main Responsibilities
- Fieldwork: Conduct individual ethnographic fieldwork in one or more countries of the Maghreb, Middle East, or Persian Gulf—and, where relevant, within diasporic communities originating from these regions in Europe—focusing on the religious publishing sector.
- Collaborative research: Participate in periods of collective fieldwork at book fairs across the region, or conduct paired fieldwork at a particular site with one or more members of the research team.
- Research dissemination and outputs: Make an active contribution to the production of LIV-REL project outputs, including a regular online seminar, conferences and workshops, a collective volume, a thematic journal issue, and a travelling exhibition.
Candidate Profile
- Academic qualifications: A Master's degree (M2) in social and cultural anthropology or another social science discipline. Demonstrated proficiency in ethnographic research methods is essential.
- Specialization: Applicants should have a specialization in one or more of the following areas: anthropology of religion (Judaism, Christianity, or Islam), economic anthropology (the circulation of commodities), anthropology of technology, or anthropology of knowledge. Previous research on religious publishing or the book trade would be an advantage, but is not required, provided that the proposed research project is consistent with the candidate's academic trajectory.
- Geographical focus: Applicants must have previously conducted research on one or more societies in the Maghreb, Middle East, or Persian Gulf (Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Lebanon, Israel, Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, or Oman), or, where relevant, on diasporic communities originating from these regions in Europe.
- Languages:
- Good proficiency in French (the working language of the research team) and English.
- Demonstrated ability to use Modern Standard Arabic, and/or Hebrew, and/or a dialect spoken in the Maghreb, Middle East, or Persian Gulf, as required for the purposes of fieldwork.
Where to apply
Website: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR8216-ANOCOH-002/Default.aspx
Requirements
Research Field: Anthropology
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Research Field: Anthropology
Education Level: Master Degree or equivalent
Languages: FRENCH
Level: Basic
Research Field: Anthropology
Years of Research Experience: None
Research Field: Anthropology » Ethnology
Years of Research Experience: None
Additional Information
Additional comments: PHD contract MITI
Website for additional job details: https://emploi.cnrs.fr/Offres/Doctorant/UMR8216-ANOCOH-002/Default.aspx
Work Location(s)
Number of offers available: 1
Company/Institute: CENTRE D'ETUDES EN SCIENCES SOCIALES DU RELIGIEUX
Country: France
City: PARIS 06
Contact
City: PARIS 06